Page 67 of Brand
“I’m fine.” Thefsound went on for way longer than it should have. “I got what I wanted right. Freedom. I now have all the fucking freedom to find love. Pfftt. Love. Feelings. Such bullshit, right?”
“Here, come sit down. Maybe we should get you some water. And food. Yeah, I’ll order some food.”
I helped her to the couch and she went without protest. Then I brought her a bottle of water and ordered a pizza. Normally she’d scoff at the grease and cheese topped dough, but I had a feeling she was going to need every bit of that and more to soak up all the alcohol in her system.
While we waited, I sat with her and just let her get everything out. I tried to follow along as best I could, but honestly, some of the things she said made no sense.
“I’m so stupid to think that ourmotherwould just let this go. Like for real. She didn’t even give me a heads up. There was no hint about any of this. Like, how many people knew? Am I sitting here looking like the world’s biggest idiot right now? Because that’s how I feel. I’m embarrassed and…humiliated. Me! ‘So perfect, Laurel,’ what a joke.”
And yes, she did the air quotes and all.
“I couldn’t even have thisonething. I was so proud of you for standing up to her and, well, I think you gave me the courage to look at my life and want to change things. And they just let you go, like whatever. They didn’t try to turn it around or fix it. Then I stand up, and she finds a way to turn it all around and knock me over again. I have nothing, Cami. Not even my dignity.”
“Laurel, you know that’s not true. I’m proud of you. She’s not an easy woman to go up against. You did it, take that with you. Everything else, we’ll figure out, okay?” I tried to be reassuring but the downturn of her lips and the fact that she was shaking her head too fast for me to keep up told me she wasn’t buying it.
The pizza arrived and I didn’t even have to coax her to eat any, she started shoveling slices in her mouth as soon as I flipped open the lid. All the while, still rambling on. This Laurel I didn’t know, nor had the first clue what to do with.
Apparently, our father had come by sometime before I’d arrived. He was the one that broke the news to her about what I’d seen in the paper and brought an offer with him, that if she played along with the whole thing and apologized to our mother, then they would forget everything that had happened. The way she explained it made it sound like he was giving her a first and final warning.
I had expected her to tell me that she’d agreed, but she shocked the socks off of me when she said she all but told him to shove it. She was determined to be her own person. She swore that she didn’t need the fancy car, or the new clothes that were intended to only be worn a season, or the apartment that came with a maid and shiny marble floors.
I had to say I was impressed with how she sounded like she’d handled the situation. But then again, I wasn’t there, she could have totally gone off on our father and was giving me the cleaned up version.
So, it seemed we were both out on our own. Only thing was, I had someone to fall back on, in a way, not that I’d planned it that way or was ever going to take it for granted. Laurel, she had nothing. I was sure her friends would distance themselves now that everything had come out, and once they got a whiff that she’d been cut off from the family, they would act like they hadn’t known her in the first place. Laurel was more immersed in the high-end living than I was and I knew this would hit her hard. Clearly, by the state I’d found her in, it had already.
The room went silent, both of us taking in everything that had happened in our lives the last few weeks. Two rich girls, fallen hard, both sad and pathetic and helpless in the real world. Although, I think one of us was slightly less all of those things. But I wouldn’t ever open my mouth to voice who that person was.
“How did things get so messed up?” she asked and I could tell it was a rhetorical question. Though, I had wondered the same thing from time to time. “Tell me it’s worth it.”
Her face swiveled to the side as she looked at me and somehow her eyes had gotten puffier since I’d gotten here. All of this was crashing down on her and it was showing. I hated that I couldn’t make it better for her, but she’d made the decision, and unlike me, it seemed like she had gotten a second chance to get everything back. I wasn’t angry or resentful, it wouldn’t have mattered if they’d offered me forgiveness, I wouldn’t have taken it anyway. So, in a sense, I totally got where Laurel was coming from.
As I thought about everything it was like the answer was crystal clear. Would I give up Brand and the shop to live back at my parents’ house? To have my car back without the sneakiness that the club had pulled to get it back for me? To not have to worry about how I was going to pay for my next meal?
“It is. I mean, I don’t have it figured out like at all, but he makes me feel like it’s going to be alright. And when you find yours, you will see that this life could be so much more than all that bullshit we had to deal with.”
That was the darn truth. I could breathe a little easier. I didn’t have to worry if I was going to say or do the wrong thing. I could keep the company thatIwanted to.
“All my life, I just feel like I’ve been stumbling along, letting people pull me in whatever direction they wanted me to go.” A few stray tears fell from her glassy eyes. “I’ve hated myself for so long.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but a sharp knock on the door halted my words.
“I’ll get it,” I said moving to get up.
“No,” Laurel said, placing her hand on my arm to stop me. She stood, straightened her shoulders, and held her head high. “This is my last day here and I will answer that door like I own this damn place. I will not let this get me down.”
I couldn’t argue with that, so I let her go, moving to stand at the end of the long hall that led to the front door. I half hid behind the wall. While I wanted to stay close enough to help her out if she needed, I didn’t want to encroach on the situation.
Pulling off the grace of a princess despite her disheveled state and less than stellar clothing choice, she swung the door open just enough so she could greet whoever was out there.
Then her body went rigid and her hand automatically went to her hip.
“What are you doing here?” she asked and I could hear the shock in her voice. “No. I don’t want you here. You!” Her hands were flying wildly, but I couldn’t see who she was talking to and by the elbow jerk, I had a feeling that the person was feeling the hard poke of a fingernail in their chest. “This is all your fault! My life is ruined because of you! If you hadn’t…”
Her voice dropped off and I couldn’t make out the rest of that statement. But I had a pretty good idea what she was talking about because I had a feeling that it was Brice on the other side of that door. And to be honest, I wasn’t about to stop her and all the anger I imagined she was ready to unleash. True, she had been the one to call off the engagement even before this all came out, but in all fairness, he’d been cheating for a long time. If there weren’t those indiscretions to be kept hidden, then they wouldn’t be out there now.
There was a response, low and murmured, and I couldn’t make out a single word from him. I waited but gave her the space to get it all out.
“I don’t care. You are less than nothing to me. Just…just stay away, please.” I didn’t miss the sad pleading in her tone.
